“Happy Chinese New Year•Fantastic Art China” Kicked Off in New York
On February 17, 2015, New York time, the “Happy Chinese New Year•Fantastic Art China” New York Series Events that was painstakingly prepared finally kicked off in New York. The events, organized by the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China and undertaken by the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in collaboration with the American Chinese Culture Association (ACCA), commenced on February 17 (December 29 of the lunar calendar, Beijing time) and will last one week, until February 24 (January 7 of the lunar calendar, Beijing time). The “Fantastic Art China” Series Events, carried out mainly in the Lincoln Center, the Empire State Building, the No. 84 Wharf of the Hudson River and the American Museum of Natural History, have gathered world-renowned artists and integrated traditional elements, contemporary art, symphony, comprehensive design and creative derivatives, aiming to present traditional Chinese culture in a contemporary context, and to close the distance between Chinese and Western cultures to bring Chinese New York into mainstream society of New York.
At 10 a.m. on February 17, Ms. Zhang Qiyue, Consul General of the People's Republic of China in New York and Mr. Anthony Malkin, President of the Empire State Building Company, attended the Chinese New Year lighting ceremony at the Empire State Building, a landmark building in New York, to light up the illuminations on top of the building to welcome the lunar Chinese year of the “Sheep”. On both nights of February 17 and 18, on top of the Empire State Building, the Chinese New Year light installation designed by CAFA will be presented to the public in five chapters themed by “Chinese Colors”.
Ms. Zhang Qiyue, Consul General of the People's Republic of China in New York made a speech
Ms. Zhang Qiyue, Consul General of the People's Republic of China in New York and Mr. Anthony Malkin, President of the Empire State Building Company, attended the Chinese New Year lighting ceremony
Mr. Anthony Malkin presented a speech first. He declared that the 2015 Year of the Sheep was the 14th time that the Empire State Building is holding a lighting event for the Chinese New Year; unlike events in the past, this year the design team of the light installation on the Building was from the CAFA, which not only interpreted and delivered the best wishes of the Year of the Sheep with a whole new themed light installation, but also decorated the public area of the Building with a window display entitled “Auspicious Beginning”. Mr Malkin said that the design of CAFA had brought spring to the cold winter in New York, and hoped that the event could further enhance friendship and cultural exchange between China and the United States.
In her speech, Ms. Zhang Qiyue announced that the lighting event on the Empire State Building, as a “Happy Chinese New Year•Fantastic Art China” Series Event, showed that the Chinese New Year has become a world festival, and she hoped that the event could not only add to the festival atmosphere, but also enhance the understanding of traditional Chinese culture.
Ms. Zhang Qiyue, Consul General of the People's Republic of China in New York and Mr. Anthony Malkin, President of the Empire State Building Company
In an exclusive interview, Ms. Zhang also said, “The Year of the Sheep represents ‘Peace, Harmony, Auspiciousness and Best Wishes’. The ‘Fantastic Art China’ Series Events, as a new brand of ‘Happy Chinese New Year’, are undertaken by China’s leading professional art school - CAFA and are an effective complement and added value to ‘Happy Chinese New Year’. CAFA has brought traditional folk activities to the level of public art and has enhanced dialogue and communication with local people in New York, including overseas Chinese. Through displays at landmark buildings and famous cultural facilities in New York, such as the Empire State Building and the Lincoln Center, they have brought the traditional Chinese New Year to American mainstream society.” She also added that the event was the result of close cooperation between high-level art institutes in China and the United States, and that it has opened up a new mode of China-US cooperation in the fields of culture and art through the “Happy Chinese New Year” events, and that it has also showed the professionalism and high level of art management at CAFA .
Ms. Yang Xuelan, Chairman of the American Chinese Culture Association (ACCA) gave a speech
At 4 p.m. local time, the “Happy Chinese New Year•Fantastic Art China” public art exhibition and creative bazaar kicked off at the Lincoln Center. Over 300 local overseas Chinese representatives and guests from New York mainstream society attended the event, despite heavy snow, to celebrate and share the happiness of the Chinese New Year and to see the visual feast created by CAFA for the artistic Chinese New Year in New York.
At the David Rubenstein Atrium, in the Lincoln Center, works from artists Xu Bing, Chen Wenling, Lv Shengzhong and Huang Jianchen are on display, while Xu Jiang’s and Zhan Wang’s works are displayed at Avery Fisher Hall. In the meantime, at the creative bazaar in the David Rubenstein Atrium, prize-winning works from the Chinese New Year Creative Product Design Competition selected from over 600 entries received from dozens of colleges and universities nationwide, as well as cultural and art pieces from the Shanghai Museum, the Nanjing Museum, the Hunan Provincial Museum, the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, the Hubei Provincial Museum, the CAFA Art Museum, the Suzhou Museum, the Ordos Museum and Art Plus have attracted the attention and appreciation of domestic and foreign guests. At the creative bazaar, the display “Image China” has been especially set, exhibiting works from twelve young and middle-aged Chinese artists, including Zou Jianping, Cai Dong, Lyu Zhongyuan, Yang Jun, Shi Qiao, Tan Jun, Chen Xin, Li Sa, Sun Mingchun, Zhang Jiuqian, Xue Yunxiang and Lin Lan. The exhibitions at the Lincoln Center will be free and open to the public from February 18 and will last until February 24.
Professor Yu Ding, Chief Planner of “Happy Chinese New Year•Fantastic Art China” and Head of the Art Management and Education School of CAFA gave a speech
The opening ceremony of the “Fantastic Art China” Series Events was hosted by Ms. Yang Xuelan, Chairman of the American Chinese Culture Association (ACCA). Professor Yu Ding, Chief Planner of “Happy Chinese New Year•Fantastic Art China” and Head of the Art Management and Education School of CAFA, and Mr. Wang Yansheng, Cultural Counselor of the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in New York, each gave a speech.
Ms. Yang Xuelan spoke about the artistic transformation of traditional Chinese cultural elements in the contemporary context that “Happy Chinese New Year•Fantastic Art China” , integrates into Chinese New Year customs together with contemporary Chinese public art and creative design products, which has closed the distance between the traditional and the contemporary, establishing a new model of cultural communication between China and the Western World in an easy-to-understand and mutual fashion, and is helping the world understand China and Chinese culture.
Professor Yu Ding, General Planner of “Happy Chinese New Year•Fantastic Art China”, said that this was another big event for CAFA to plan such a large-scale cultural event after participating in a series of major national cultural image events, such as the visual design for the 2008 Olympic Games and that of the Chinese pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Expo. In his speech, Professor Yu Ding introduced in detail the renowned artists participating in the public art exhibition and their works and again expressed gratitude to the partners, institutions, relevant artists and staff participating in “Fantastic Art China”.
Cultural and art pieces displayed on Lincoln Center
The opening ceremony of the “Fantastic Art China” Series Events
At the end of the opening ceremony, The Characters of Chinese Characters, a hand-painted two-dimensional animation from Xu Bing, and Huang Jiancheng’s animation The Recreation Plan Along the River During the Qingming Festival were played on a screen. The audience learned about the relationship between the writing of Chinese characters and the specificity of the Chinese nation through the evolutionary history of Chinese characters, and they could also explore bazaar scenes in a period of great prosperity in Chinese history from the deconstructed “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” -- from historical retrospection to real scenes, the audience in the creative bazaar watched “Along the River During the Qingming Festival”. They could seek an understanding of ancient and contemporary Chinese from creative design pieces at the creative bazaar, and experience “Chinese New Year celebration” and “Chinese New Year shopping”.
Cultural and art pieces displayed on Lincoln Center
Ms. Zhang Qiyue, Consul General of the People's Republic of China in New York made a speech
“The Most Romantic Thing to Celebrate Chinese New Year in New York--Watch Fireworks Together” is the title of the major event anticipated, sponsored by the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in New York. As night fell, people came in flocks and gathered on both sides of the Hudson River to watch the fireworks display titled Harmonious and Beautiful China. It was the first time in New York history, and in American story as well, that fireworks celebrating the Chinese New Year were set off. At 7:30 p.m., the 20-minute fireworks display was officially begun. Three radio stations in New York broadcast the fireworks suite “Harmonious and Beautiful China” live, which was composed by the renowned musician Guan Xia. The combination of resplendent fireworks and beautiful music has become a great way to transmit the Chinese New Year.
The themed fireworks display Harmonious and Beautiful China, designed by CAFA, showed four chapters: “Radiant with Joy” “Spring Returns” “The Moon and Stars” and “Rejoice”. The fireworks ripped across the sky, bright and magnificent, spreading the message of China - a civilization more than one thousand years old - and New Year’s wishes from the eastern country to overseas Chinese and people all over the world. Near the end, the overseas Chinese gathering by the Hudson River shouted beneath the fireworks, “We are in New York. I love China! Happy Chinese New Year!”
Fireworks
Fireworks
In the meantime, the “Chinese Colors” light installation on the Empire State Building echoed with the fireworks. The light installation, designed and completed by CAFA on the basis of the original colors of the Building, changed colors with five different color rhythms within one minute, creating a happy and flowing atmosphere and echoing the theme of “Happy Chinese New Year•Fantastic Art China”. It reflected internal information of traditional Chinese culture in a modern and fashionable light show.
New York of 2015 will remember February 17 as a special date--the ”Fantastic Art China” Series Events, as a sub brand of “Happy Chinese New Year”, landed in New York for the first time, bringing Chinese culture to New York, and the best wishes of the Chinese people in the form of public art as well. In New York, a city where people of many nationalities and cultures gather, the ”Fantastic Art China” Series Events spread the message of China not only to overseas Chinese, but also to American people and people all over the world -- “Harmonious and Beautiful China, Harmonious World, Celebrate Chinese New Year Together, Happy Year of the Sheep.”
Fireworks
Fireworks